This article proposes that advocates for the poor consider the replacement of the current means-tested safety net in the United States with a Negative Income Tax (NIT), a guaranteed income program that lifts families’ incomes above a minimum threshold. The article highlights gaps in service provision that leave millions in poverty, explains how a NIT could help fill those gaps, and compares current expenditures on major means-tested programs to estimated expenditures necessary for a NIT. Finally, it addresses the financial and political concerns that are likely to arise in the event that a NIT proposal gains traction among policy makers.
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